Washing drivetrain bits in dishwasher?

[phantasmagoriana]

The flat I'm currently living in lacks any outside space, which makes it a bit difficult to do dirty fettling tasks. It does, however, have a dishwasher (which is a novelty - I'd never used one before).

I need to swap a cassette from old wheel to new. Would it be a really stupid idea to put it in the dishwasher?!

[mrcharly-YHT]

I'd get a plastic jar/container, put some kero/bbq lighter fluid in it, then put cassette in that. Shake around, lift out with old spoke and suspend above container to drip dry.

[T42]

It'd certainly be interesting to hear the result. Detergents are degreasers, but they're milder than the solvents we usually clean chains & cassettes with. With the high temperature and longer action of the dishwasher they might work better, though.

[jsabine]

Regarded as good if not standard practice in Another Place for cleaning motorcycle parts.

Generally regarded as unpopular with, and to be concealed from, life partners and housemates.

Other than anecdote, I have absolutely no idea whether or not it actually works.

[interested]

I certainly wouldn't do it. The detergents are highly alkaline and will corrode any carbon steel parts. Since dishwashers also dulls knifes I assume that they may also rapidly accelerate wear on sprockets etc.

Keeping the chain clean and reasonable lubricated*, and avoiding putting oil/grease on the sprockets and chainset will go a long way in keeping your bike clean and reduce wear.

A dry piece of cloth will usually works wonders in cleaning grime of the fenders and frame and doesn't attack bearings like water and soap washing does.

I too live in an apartment and have adjust my ambitions regarding how clean my bike appears. Accepting a little extra grime and wear also means that I don't have to fuss about my bikes; I probably goes through sprockets and chains slightly faster than if than kept the parts sparkling clean, but then again, I don't waste time cleaning the bike either.


*not too much oil on the surface where it doesn't do any good.

[jsabine]

avoiding putting oil/grease on the sprockets and chainset

Good luck with that - how on earth do you manage it if you ever oil your chain?

[interested]

avoiding putting oil/grease on the sprockets and chainset

Good luck with that - how on earth do you manage it if you ever oil your chain?

There are several methods; taking the chain off (using eg. Sram Powerlinks), clean it, lubricate it and wipe off excess oil. Or carefully using a drip bottle applying lubrication at each chain link and wipe of excess oil afterwards with a dry rag.

Sure, there will be a thin layer of oil on the top of the sprockets and chainrings. I am not talking about keeping them completely free of oil, just keeping it at a minimum.

Lubrication doesn't do any good on either sprockets or chainset, so applying chain oil by using a spraycan pointed in the general direction of the chain isn't a good idea and just result in a black, oily grime layer on everything.

[Jurek]

.....Lubrication doesn't do any good on either sprockets or chainset....

 

[Biggsy]

I don't believe any significant amount of corrosion will happen within the time the parts are in the dishwasher.  I'd be far more worried about the dishwasher!  Black bike grease is worse than a full English breakfast, isn't it?

[nextSibling]

I do this sometimes. In my experience, the dishwasher won't shift very much of the thick black type of grease-gunk that chains, sprockets, jockey wheels, etc., can get coated in. It's good for getting a nice shine on parts that have already had the worst removed with a stronger solvent, or for shifting mud, dust or general road grime. Never noticed any corrosion issues. Most dishwashers have a rinse at the end of their program, anyhow.

Your dishwasher may vary, etc.

[De Sisti]

Would it be a really stupid idea to put it in the dishwasher?!

Well, did you?

[Ningishzidda]

Living room bike cleaning.

The local newspaper spread out, a waste paper bin handy and an old tee shirt cut into strips.

For cleaning a chain, a ball of ‘chunky’ woollen yarn your mum didn’t use to knit grandad that Christmas jumper. Glue up one end and thread it to-and-fro between the links like a snake making love. Pull through and it will brush all the black crap with it. About 5 yards will do.

[mcshroom]

Multi-surface wipes are good for living room cleaning as well.

[phantasmagoriana]

Would it be a really stupid idea to put it in the dishwasher?!

Well, did you?

No. It's the landlord's dishwasher, so I've decided not to risk it just in case!

TBH, the chain and cassette aren't *that* dirty so probably don't need heavy degreasing - I've only ridden the bike about three times since I rebuilt it (in June ) and it had a new chain and a good clean of the cassette then. I was just seduced by the idea of shiny sprockets, but I'll settle for sort-of-vaguely-clean instead.

Thanks for the suggestions all - I think I'll have to start doing little and often cleaning-wise, rather than my rather infrequent routine...

[Tim Hall]

Fearful of the repercussions of dishwasher cleaning oily bits of bike, I have used the "boil in a saucepan of water with a squirt of washing up liquid" method with some degree of success.

[Kim]

Possible silly question, but what's wrong with giving the chain a Sheldon Shake and scrubbing the sprockety bits in the sink with a brush and some degreaser?

[Ningishzidda]

Take your bike down the laundrette.

[henshaw11]

Baby wipes are good for wiping down the chain/putting between the sprockets without disintegrating, an get you a mostly-clean if-not-shiny transmission. The lube-wipe-(etc) -lube-wipe sequence helps wash out existing gunk and removes any excess lube which attracts dirt.

If you need to degrease anything, get a shallow plastic round tray (~10") that'd go under a plant pot, use white spirit and an old toothbrush, with the tray in the bottom of the kitchen sink to minimise splashup. Strain the dirty spirit through a cone of kitchen roll - preferably into a different container - for reuse. Even really old spirit works better than some degreasers. You can then use detergent to remove any spirit residue, let it drain/wipe down, then dry on a radiator.

[tonyh]

+1 for White Spirit.

[Charlotte]

Possible silly question, but what's wrong with giving the chain a Sheldon Shake and scrubbing the sprockety bits in the sink with a brush and some degreaser?

+1 More or less what I've always done.

Remove chain with quick link and put into big pickle jar with paraffin.  Shake vigorously.  Remove and hang to dry.  If that doesn't work, spread out on old tea tray and scrub with an old washing up brush.

Remove rear wheel and clean cassette in situ using degreaser and appropriately sized brushes.  I'm given to understand that you can buy special sprocket cleaning brushes, but I usually default to using an old toothbrush.  Rinse degreaser off with garden hose.

Sorted 

[L CC]

Promise man cake¹.
Get man² in.
Make cake¹.

Sorted.

1: Other bribes may be equally effective.
2: Other genders may be more to your taste.

[Gattopardo]

Promise man cake¹.
Get man² in.
Make cake¹.

Sorted.

1: Other bribes may be equally effective.
2: Other genders may be more to your taste.

So if I promised you cake....

[mrcharly-YHT]

Hmm - I find using brushes spatters oily droplets. Maybe best to do scrubbing inside a plastic bag. Or use old rags to rub clean. Old jeans work well when cut up.

White Spirit really honks in a small space. 'no odour' lamp oil is paraffin that has been 'de-odorised'. Sure it's expensive compared to ordinary paraffin, but it comes in neat 1ltr bottles and is still very cheap compared to proprietary cleaners. No need to rinse it all off, the residue is a lubricant and won't do your bike any harm. Just let it drip dry. You can save it for another use as people have said. Keep a couple of large icecream containers for doing the cleaning in, store the used paraffin in another container.

[LEE]

The most useful item I have for this task is a £1 washing-up bowl.

Apart from that you need a big bottle of White Spirit, cling-film, an old tooth brush and a cheap paintbush.


Put components into bowl, chain, cassette, chainrings, mech ..etc.  Fill to a depth of about 2" with white spirit.  Cover with cling-film.  Leave overnight, giving a gentle swill every time you walk past the bowl.

Next day you should find that half the grime has just fallen away, the rest should brush off easily.

Put clean components onto old towel to dry.

Lubricate.

A perfect solution to this could be one of those worktop dishwashers, fed from a tank of white spirit.

[Kim]

A perfect solution to this could be one of those worktop dishwashers, fed from a tank of white spirit.

What could possibly go wrong?